The virtual workforce isn't some feel-good concept cooked up in the corner of some consultant's brain. It is reality, and there are already a number of organizations that have mainly virtual workers, meaning they only connect and interact digitally, versus having physical offices.

Brie Weiler Reynolds of FlexJobs has compiled a list of "virtual" companies that operate with remote workers or distributed teams. "These cutting-edge companies embrace a new way of working
in a forward-thinking way," the report's authors note. "They don’t see virtual working as a perk, but as a necessity, as standard operating procedure—as THE way to do business. The companies below truly represent the future of work."

Here are some selected companies from Reynolds' list that pride themselves in having entirely virtual workforces:

appendTo:
This web development company describes itself as “100% distributed.”

Fire Engine Red:
This marketing and technology company says it has "no committees or bureaucracy of any kind," and that "team members can live anywhere – and they do – in 18 U.S. states and Canada."

FlexJobs: The authors of this list also have their own completely virtual team -- "40 staffers working
from home offices throughout every time zone in the U.S."

Genuitec:
A cloud software development company with “100%
work-from-home” opportunities.

inVision: This software design firm states right up front: “Who says you need to move to
work at a great company? Not us. We know there’s great talent all over
the place and we are a completely distributed company. Do great work
from an environment that you’re comfortable in.”

Mozilla: This open-source provider of the Firefox browser and Mozilla Thunderbird email client says, “We have 13 global offices and people working in more than
30 countries. If you work best from home, that’s not a problem. We can
support you anywhere.

Upworthy:
This new media company says employees can “work from home, from a coffee shop, from a coworking
space—anywhere with good enough Internet to do a Google Hangout.”

Of course, there are many, many more organizations in the world offering flexible or virtual work arrangenments. FlexJobs also says it offers a Guide to the Best Companies for Flexible Jobs,
a searchable database of over 29,000 employers
that embrace and offer telecommuting and other flexible work options.